WALKER - Hank and Doug Meijer, the sons of the late retail magnate Fred Meijer, are sending a message to their 60,000 employees and millions of customers that Meijer Inc will continue to be a family-owned and family-run business.

The Walker-based retailer released a two-minute video on YouTube Thursday afternoon with archival interviews of Fred Meijer, who died last month, talking about what he hoped his legacy would be and the future of the company started by his father Hendrik.

"I would hope that when I die, and we all die, someone would say 'The world is a little bit better because he came along,'" Fred Meijer said. "If that happens, I would have done my job."

The video shows photos of Fred Meijer through the years with his employees and customers. He was known as much for his philanthropy as he was for pioneering the supercenter concept later copied by Sam Walton for his Wal-Mart chain.

"Like his father, he was building something else all those years," said Doug Meijer in the video. "He was building a family now 60,000 strong."

Hank Meijer notes that he and his brother have been leading the company for more than two decades. They share the chairmanship of the private company with estimated annual sales of $14.2 billion.

"Because of our dad, Meijer will always be more than a company," said Hank Meijer, who is also the company's chief executive.

The video shows the brothers walking through the company's Walker corporate headquarters and Meijer stores where they stop to talk to customers - and even assist a few with their grocery bags. In one scene, they help two kids climb onto Sandy, the stores' iconic penny pony ride.

"With the support of a great leadership team, our family will continue to pursue what matters to our customers," said Doug Meijer.

"That was always our dad's vision for Meijer: To entrust it to the leadership of those he trusted and loved," added Hank Meijer.

The video titled "Meijer - Family Own, Family Run" was created for "team members, customers and fans of Meijer," said Meijer spokesman Frank Guglielmi. It was released late Thursday afternoon after employees had an opportunity to see it, he said.

A link to the video was released on the company's Twitter handle @meijer with the message: "To all of our great Meijer customers, friends and team members, thank you for helping us continue Fred’s vision."